Pointing system, control device, and control method

ABSTRACT

A pointing system including: a pointing device including an operation portion and a light-emitting portion that emits light according to an operation to the operation portion; and a control device including an image pickup portion that picks up light from the light-emitting portion when the light-emitting portion emits light and outputs an image including information on a light spot of the light, a display portion that includes a screen and displays a pointer on the screen, and a control portion that judges, as well as judge a movement of the light spot based on the information on the light spot in the image and move the pointer on the screen based on the movement of the light spot, whether the light spot is turned off based on the information on the light spot in the image and executes processing related to a click when the light spot is turned off.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to Japanese Priority PatentApplication JP 2010-138224 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Jun.17, 2010, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND

The present application relates to a technique involving a pointingsystem that is equipped with a pointing device including alight-emitting portion and a control device that picks up light from thelight-emitting portion and moves a pointer displayed on a screen basedon the pickup image.

From the past, there is known a technique in which light such asinfrared light that is emitted from a remote controller is picked up byan image pickup portion provided on a television apparatus side, and acoordinate point on a screen indicated by the remote controller isdetected based on the pickup image (see Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-open No. 2007-213197; hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document1).

In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a coordinatedesignation button 28 provided on a remote controller 2 is pressed by auser first. Then, code-modulated infrared rays are emitted from 6 LEDs(Light Emitting Diodes) 22 to 27 provided on the remote controller 2. ACCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor provided in a television apparatus 1picks up the infrared rays emitted from the LEDs and transmits them to aremote controller recognition control portion 36. The remote controllerrecognition control portion 36 executes various operations based on thepickup image and calculates a coordinate position on a screen. When abutton or the like is displayed at the calculated coordinate position onthe screen, processing of selecting that button or the like is executed.

SUMMARY

Incidentally, in recent years, GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) such asa pointer and an icon that are widely used in PCs (Personal Computers)are now starting to be used in living rooms etc. with, for example,televisions as image media.

Under such an environment, a technique that enables a pointer displayedon a screen to easily move using a remote controller (pointing device)that emits light such as infrared rays is being demanded. Further, atechnique that enables operations such as a click to be easily performedusing a remote controller (pointing device) is also being demanded.

In view of the circumstances as described above, there is a need for atechnique involving a pointing system that is capable of easily moving apointer displayed on a screen using a pointing device that emits lightsuch as infrared rays and with which operations such as a click can beperformed with ease.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda pointing system including a pointing device and a control device.

The pointing device includes an operation portion and a light-emittingportion.

The light-emitting portion emits light in accordance with an operationto the operation portion.

The control device includes an image pickup portion, a display portion,and a control portion.

The image pickup portion picks up light from the light-emitting portionat a time the light-emitting portion emits light and outputs an imageincluding information on a light spot of the light.

The display portion includes a screen and displays a pointer on thescreen.

The control portion judges, as well as judge a movement of the lightspot based on the information on the light spot in the image and movethe pointer on the screen based on the movement of the light spot,whether the light of the light spot is turned off based on theinformation on the light spot in the image and executes processingrelated to a click at a time the light of the light spot is turned off.

The “processing related to a click” includes single-click processing anddouble-click processing.

In the pointing system, when a user operates the operation portion suchas an operation button provided on the pointing device, thelight-emitting portion of the pointing device emits light. The lightemitted from the light-emitting portion is picked up by the image pickupportion of the control device. When the user operates the pointingdevice 3-dimensionally while operating the operation portion, the lightspot moves within the pickup image, and the movement of the light spotis judged by the control portion. The control portion moves the pointeron the screen in accordance with the movement of the light spot. As aresult, the user can easily move the pointer on the screen by operatingthe pointing device 3-dimensionally while operating the operationportion such as an operation button provided on the pointing device.

On the other hand, when the user cancels the operation to the operationportion such as an operation button provided on the pointing device, thelight of the light-emitting portion is turned off, and the light of thelight spot in the image picked up by the image pickup portion of thecontrol device is turned off. The turn-off of the light is judged by thecontrol portion, and the processing related to a click is executed atthe time the light is turned off. As a result, the user can easilyperform operations such as a click by canceling the operation to theoperation button of the pointing device.

In the pointing system, the control portion may judge whether themovement of the light spot satisfies a predetermined condition andswitch, when the movement of the light spot satisfies the predeterminedcondition, a mode between a left-click processing mode in whichprocessing related to a left-click is executed at the time the light ofthe light spot is turned off and a right-click processing mode in whichprocessing related to a right-click is executed at the time the light ofthe light spot is turned off.

The “processing related to a left-click” includes single-left-clickprocessing” and “double-left-click processing”.

The “processing related to a right-click” includes single-right-clickprocessing” and “double-right-click processing”.

The condition of the movement of the light spot in a case where theright-click processing mode is switched to the left-click processingmode and the condition of the movement of the light spot in a case wherethe left-click processing mode is switched to the right-click processingmode may either be the same or different.

In the pointing system, the user grabs the pointing device and operatesit 3-dimensionally to make a specific movement (e.g., move swiftly tothe right and stop or move swiftly to the left and stop). As a result, aswitch can be made between the right-click processing mode and theleft-click processing mode. By canceling the operation to the operationportion during the right-click processing mode, the user can perform aright-click operation, and by canceling the operation to the operationportion during the left-click processing mode, the user can perform aleft-click operation.

In the pointing system, the control portion may judge whether themovement of the light spot satisfies a predetermined condition andswitch, when the movement of the light spot satisfies the predeterminedcondition, a click processing mode in which the pointer is moved inaccordance with the movement of the light spot and the processingrelated to a click is executed at the time the light of the light spotis turned off to a drag processing mode in which drag is executed inaccordance with the movement of the light spot and drop is executed atthe time the light of the light spot is turned off.

In the pointing system, the user can switch the click processing mode tothe drag processing mode by grabbing the pointing device and operatingit 3-dimensionally to make a specific movement (e.g., stop for certaintime). In the drag processing mode, the user can perform drag byoperating the pointing device 3-dimensionally and perform drop bycanceling the operation to the operation portion.

In the pointing system, the control portion may judge whether themovement of the light spot satisfies a predetermined condition andswitch, when the movement of the light spot satisfies the predeterminedcondition, a click processing mode in which the pointer is moved inaccordance with the movement of the light spot and the processingrelated to a click is executed at the time the light of the light spotis turned off to a scroll processing mode in which scroll is executed inaccordance with the movement of the light spot.

In the pointing system, the user can switch the click processing mode tothe scroll processing mode by grabbing the pointing device and operatingit 3-dimensionally to make a specific movement (e.g., move swiftly invertical and lateral directions).

In the pointing system, the light-emitting portion may flicker at apredetermined cycle at the time the operation portion is operated, andthe control portion may judge which of the turn-off of the light of thelight spot based on the flickering of the light-emitting portion and theturn-off of the light of the light spot based on a cancel of theoperation to the operation portion the turn-off of the light is based onthe information on the light spot in the image, avoid executing theprocessing related to a click when the turn-off of the light of thelight spot is judged to be the turn-off of the light based on theflickering, and execute the processing related to a click when theturn-off of the light of the light spot is judged to be the turn-off ofthe light based on the cancel of the operation to the operation portion.

In the pointing system, since the light-emitting portion flickers at apredetermined cycle while the operation portion of the pointing deviceis being operated, power of the pointing device can be saved.

On the other hand, the control portion of the control device judgeswhich of the turn-off of the light based on the flickering of thelight-emitting portion and the turn-off of the light based on the cancelof the operation to the operation portion the turn-off of the light ofthe light spot is. When the turn-off of the light is based on theflickering, the control portion does not execute the processing relatedto a click. As a result, it is possible to prevent the processingrelated to a click from being executed while the light-emitting portionis flickering so as to execute false operations.

In the pointing system, the control portion may calculate a movementamount of the light spot and switch, in accordance with a level of themovement amount, a mode between a first mode in which the pointer ismoved with respect to the movement amount at a first movement rate and asecond mode in which the pointer is moved with respect to the movementamount at a second movement rate larger than the first movement rate.

With this structure, when the 3-dimensional movement of the pointingdevice is small, the movement of the pointer on the screen becomesmarkedly small. As a result, it is possible to suppress wobbling of thepointer on the screen due to a influence of a shake.

In the pointing system, the control portion may judge a size of thelight spot in the image, set, in the image picked up by the image pickupportion, a size of a base frame corresponding to the screen of thedisplay portion to a size corresponding to the size of the light spot,and move the pointer on the screen in accordance with the movement ofthe light spot in the base frame.

In the pointing system, the base frame is set in the image based on thesize of the light spot, that is, a distance between the pointing deviceand the control device. Since the pointer is moved in accordance withthe movement of the light spot within the base frame that is set basedon the distance, control of the movement of the pointer based on thedistance becomes possible.

In the pointing system, the control portion may set a light spot searchframe around the base frame in the image and judge the movement of thelight spot and the turn-off of the light of the light spot in the lightspot search frame.

In the pointing system, since the light spot search frame is set and themovement and turn-off of the light spot within the light spot searchframe are judged, an influence of ambient light can be eliminated.

According to an embodiment, there is provided a control device pickingup light from a light-emitting portion of a pointing device including anoperation portion and the light-emitting portion that emits light inaccordance with an operation to the operation portion and moves apointer on a screen based on information on a light spot of the lightincluded in the pickup image. The control device includes an imagepickup portion, a display portion, and a control portion.

The image pickup portion is configured to pick up light from thelight-emitting portion at a time the light-emitting portion emits lightand output the image including information on the light spot.

The display portion includes the screen and is configured to display thepointer on the screen.

The control portion is configured to judge, as well as judge a movementof the light spot based on the information on the light spot in theimage and move the pointer on the screen based on the movement of thelight spot, whether the light of the light spot is turned off based onthe information on the light spot in the image and execute processingrelated to a click at a time the light of the light spot is turned off.

According to an embodiment, there is provided a control method includingpicking up light from a light-emitting portion that emits light inaccordance with an operation to an operation portion.

An image including information on a light spot of the light is output.

A movement of the light spot is judged based on the information on thelight spot in the pickup image.

A pointer is moved on a screen in accordance with the movement of thelight spot.

Turn-off of the light of the light spot is judged based on theinformation on the light spot in the image.

Processing related to a click is executed at a time the light of thelight spot is turned off.

As described above, according to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, it is possible to provide a technique involving a pointingsystem that is capable of easily moving a pointer displayed on a screenusing a pointing device that emits light such as infrared rays and withwhich operations such as a click can be performed with ease.

Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will beapparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a pointing system according to anembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a remote controller;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal structure of the remotecontroller;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal structure of a PC(Personal Computer);

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of the remote controller;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a pickup image, a base frame, and a lightspot search frame;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing carried out when setting thebase frame and the light spot search frame;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a setting position of the base frame;

FIG. 9 are diagrams showing a movement of a light spot in the pickupimage at a time the remote controller is swung laterally while a user ispressing a button of the remote controller and light is emitted from alight-emitting portion;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining processing carried out when movingthe pointer and processing of a click and the like;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the processing carried out whenmoving the pointer and the processing of a click and the like;

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the processing carried out whenmoving the pointer and the processing of a click and the like;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the processing carried out whenmoving the pointer and the processing of a click and the like; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing of a PC of a pointing systemaccording to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present application will be described below in detailwith reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

Overall Structure of Pointing System 100 and Structures of Components

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a pointing system 100 according to a firstembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pointing system 100 includes a remote controller30 (pointing device) and a display-portion-integrated PC 10 (controldevice) (hereinafter, simply referred to as PC 10) including atelevision broadcast reception function.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the remote controller 30. FIG. 3 is ablock diagram showing an internal structure of the remote controller 30.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the remote controller 30 includes anoperation portion 36, a storage portion 39, a control portion 38, and alight-emitting portion 37.

The operation portion 36 includes various operation buttons such as apower button 31, channel buttons 32, a switch button 33 that makes aswitch between a PC mode and a television broadcast mode, a channelup-down button 34, and a volume up-down button 35. Instead of apress-type operation button, the operation portion 36 may be atouch-type operation portion 36 that uses a capacitance sensor. Theoperation portion 36 may take any form as long as it can be operated bya user.

The storage portion 39 includes a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM (ReadOnly Memory) that stores various programs requisite for controlling theremote controller 30. Further, the remote controller 30 includes avolatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) that is used as aworking area for operations of the control portion 38.

The light-emitting portion 37 is constituted of, for example, aninfrared LED (Light Emitting Diode) that emits infrared rays undercontrol of the control portion 38.

The control portion 38 is constituted of, for example, a CPU (CentralProcessing Unit) and collectively controls parts of the remotecontroller 30. The control portion 38 controls the light-emittingportion 37 to emit infrared rays when the various buttons of theoperation portion 36 are pressed. At this time, the control portion 38controls the light-emitting portion 37 to emit infrared rays modulatedby a remote control code corresponding to the pressed button.

Here, when the various buttons of the operation portion 36 are operated,the remote controller 30 may take either a form in which thelight-emitting portion 37 constantly emits light or a form in which thelight-emitting portion 37 flickers at a predetermined cycle while thebuttons are being operated. Although the remote controller 30 may takeeither form, in the descriptions of this embodiment, the light-emittingportion 37 will be described as taking the form in which it flickers ata predetermined cycle.

It should be noted that in the form in which the light-emitting portion37 flickers, power of the remote controller 30 can be saved, and alifetime of batteries (not shown) and the like that are incorporatedinside the remote controller 30 can be prolonged.

A generally-used remote controller 30 can be used as it is as a remotecontroller 30 for a display-portion-integrated PC or a televisionapparatus. By processing of the PC 10, the remote controller 30functions as a pointing device that is capable of moving a pointer 1 ona screen 3 to be described later and executing operations such as aclick.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal structure of the PC 10 ofthis embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, the PC 10 includes a display portion 11, aspeaker 12, an image pickup portion 13, an image processing portion 14,an infrared ray reception portion 15, a code analysis portion 16, acontrol portion 20, a television broadcast reception portion 17, astorage portion 18, and a communication portion 19.

The display portion 11 is constituted of, for example, a liquid crystaldisplay or an EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The display portion 11displays GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) such as the pointer 1 and anicon 2 and a television broadcast video on the screen 3 under control ofthe control portion 20.

It should be noted that in the specification, a state where the GUIssuch as the pointer 1 and the icon 2 are displayed on the screen 3 isreferred to as PC mode and a state where a television broadcast video isdisplayed on the screen 3 is referred to as television broadcast mode.

The image pickup portion 13 includes an image pickup device such as aCCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor and a CMOS (Complementary Metal OxideSemiconductor) sensor and an infrared ray filter that selectivelytransmits infrared rays emitted from the light-emitting portion 37 ofthe remote controller 30.

The image pickup portion 13 picks up infrared rays emitted from thelight-emitting portion 37 of the remote controller 30 and outputs apickup image 40 (see FIG. 6) including information on a light spot 4 ofthe infrared rays to the image processing portion 14. The imageprocessing portion 14 processes the pickup image 40 picked up by theimage pickup portion 13 and outputs the image to the control portion 20.

The control portion 20 includes, for example, a CPU and a GPU (GraphicsProcessing Unit). The control portion 20 collectively controls the partsof the PC 10. The control portion 20 executes various operations basedon the pickup image 40 input from the image processing portion 14 tothus execute processing for moving the pointer 1 on the screen 3 of thedisplay portion 11 and processing of a click, a double-click,drag-and-drop, scroll, and the like. It should be noted that details ofthe processing will be given later.

The storage portion 18 includes recording media such as an HDD (HardDisk Drive) that stores various programs requisite for control of the PC10 and an OS (Operating System) and an SSD (Solid State Drive).Moreover, the storage portion 18 includes a nonvolatile memory such as aROM on which BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is recorded and a volatilememory such as a RAM that is used as a working area for operations ofthe control portion 20.

The communication portion 19 is connected to a communication networksuch as the Internet and is capable of receiving/transmittinginformation from/to the communication network. The received informationis output to the control portion 20. For example, when HTML (Hyper TextMarkup Language) data of a webpage is received, the control portion 20analyzes the HTML data to generate image data of the webpage andcontrols the display portion 11 to display the webpage.

The infrared ray reception portion 15 includes an infrared ray filterthat selectively transmits infrared rays emitted from the light-emittingportion 37 of the remote controller 30 and an infrared ray receptioncircuit. The infrared ray reception portion 15 receives the infraredrays emitted from the remote controller 30, converts the infrared raysinto electric signals, and outputs the obtained electric signals to thecode analysis portion 16.

The code analysis portion 16 analyzes the electric signals input fromthe infrared ray reception portion 15 to analyze remote control codesignals input from the remote controller 30, and outputs the analyzedremote control code signals to the control portion 20.

The control portion 20 controls the PC 10 based on the input remotecontrol code signals. For example, when the remote control code signalis to switch the PC mode and the TV broadcast mode, the PC mode and theTV broadcast mode are switched. Moreover, when a remote control codesignal for switching a broadcast channel is input during the TVbroadcast mode, the control portion 20 controls the television broadcastreception portion 17 to make a switch to the broadcast channel to bereceived.

The television broadcast reception portion 17 is a reception tuner fordigital terrestrial broadcast signals, digital BS broadcast signals, CSbroadcast signals, and the like. The television broadcast receptionportion 17 receives program data of a broadcast program corresponding tothe selected broadcast channel via an antenna 21 and outputs the data tothe control portion 20.

The control portion 20 executes video processing for displaying videosignals included in the program data on the display portion 11 and audioprocessing for outputting audio signals included in the program datafrom the speaker 12.

Descriptions on Operations

Next, operations of the pointing system 100 of this embodiment will bedescribed.

Processing of Remote Controller 30

First, processing on the remote controller 30 side will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of the remote controller30.

The user holds the remote controller 30 and aims a tip end side of theremote controller 30 at the PC 10. At this time, when the PC 10 is inthe TV broadcast mode in which television broadcast is broadcasted onthe screen 3, the user operates the switch button 33 to switch to the PCmode.

When the user presses one of the plurality of buttons provided on theremote controller 30, the control portion 20 detects the press of thebutton (YES in Step 101).

It should be noted that the button to be pressed by the user may be anyof the channel buttons 32, the channel up-down button 34, and the volumeup-down button 35. It should also be noted that in the descriptionsbelow, the button to be operated by the user is the channel buttons 32(hereinafter, simply referred to as button 32) for convenience.

Upon detecting the press of the button 32, the control portion 20controls the light-emitting portion 37 to emit infrared rays (Step 102).At this time, the control portion 20 controls the light-emitting portion37 to emit infrared rays that flicker at a predetermined cycle.

When the user releases the press of the button 32, the control portion20 detects the release of the press of the button 32 (YES in Step 103).Upon detecting the release of the press of the button 32, the controlportion 20 controls the light-emitting portion 37 to end the lightemission and turns off the light-emitting portion 37 (Step 104).

Processing of PC 10

Next, processing of the PC 10 will be described.

Setting of Base Frame 41 and Setting of Light Spot Search Frame 42

First, descriptions will be given on processing carried out when thecontrol portion 20 of the PC 10 sets a base frame 41 and a light spotsearch frame 42 with respect to a pickup image 40 that has been pickedup by the image pickup portion 13 and processed by the image processingportion 14.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the pickup image 40, the base frame 41, andthe light spot search frame 42. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing theprocessing carried out when setting the base frame 41 and the light spotsearch frame 42. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a setting positionof the base frame 41.

Although details will be given later, in this embodiment, when theremote controller 30 is operated 3-dimensionally while the user ispressing the button 32 of the remote controller 30, the pointer 1 moveson the screen 3 in accordance with the 3-dimensional movement of theremote controller 30. This principle will be explained briefly.

The remote controller 30 is moved in a state where the button 32 ispressed by the user and infrared rays are emitted from thelight-emitting portion 37. At this time, the light spot 4 (highluminance point) of the infrared rays of the light-emitting portion 37moves in accordance with the movement of the remote controller 30 in thepickup image 40 picked up by the image pickup portion 13. In otherwords, since the 3-dimensional movement of the remote controller 30 andthe movement of the light spot 4 in the pickup image 40 are correlated,the pointer 1 moves on the screen 3 using this correlation.

Here, the movement of the light spot 4 or the like may be judged withrespect to the entire pickup image 40. In this embodiment, however, forthe purpose of suppressing a movement distance of the pointer 1 on thescreen 3 varying depending on the distance between the remote controller30 and the PC 10, for example, the base frame 41 is set in a sizecorresponding to the distance. Here, the base frame 41 is a frame to bea reference for the movement distance of the light spot 4.

Further, in this embodiment, for the purpose of removing ambient light,for example, the light spot search frame 42 is set in the pickup image40. Here, the light spot search frame 42 is a frame for searching forthe light spot 4 and determines a range in which the movement andturn-off of the light of the light spot 4 are judged.

Referring to FIG. 7, the control portion 20 of the PC 10 judges whetherinfrared rays have been received from the light-emitting portion 37 ofthe remote controller 30 for the first time (Step 201). In this case,the control portion 20 judges whether the pickup image 40 that has beenpicked up by the image pickup portion 13 and input by the imageprocessing portion 14 includes a light spot 4 of the infrared rays, tothus judge whether the infrared rays have been received for the firsttime.

When judging that the infrared rays from the light-emitting portion 37have been received for the first time (YES in Step 201), the controlportion 20 obtains a size and center position of the light spot 4 (Step202).

On the other hand, when judging that the infrared rays from thelight-emitting portion 37 have not been received for the first time (NOin Step 201), the control portion 20 uses the already-set base frame 41and light spot search frame 42 (Step 207).

Upon obtaining the size and center position of the light spot 4, thecontrol portion 20 next determines a size of the base frame 41 (Step203). In this case, the size of the base frame 41 is proportional to thesize of the light spot 4. As a result, the size of the base frame 41 isproportional to the distance between the remote controller 30 and the PC10.

Specifically, the size of the base frame 41 becomes smaller as thedistance between the remote controller 30 and the PC 10 becomes largerand becomes larger as the distance becomes smaller (see FIG. 9). Themovement amount of the pointer 1 on the screen 3 of the display portion11 is determined based on the movement amount of the light spot withrespect to the size of the base frame 41.

Next, the control portion 20 determines the position of the base frame41 (Step 204). In this case, the position of the base frame 41 is set ata position corresponding to a positional relationship between the pickupimage 40 and the light spot 4. For example, in a case where thepositions of the light spot 4 are an upward position, downward position,leftward position, and rightward position in the pickup image 40, thebase frames 41 are set at an upward position, downward position,leftward position, and rightward position in the pickup image 40.

Next, the control portion 20 contracts the base frame 41 so that it doesnot touch an end of the pickup image 40 (Step 205). Referring to FIG. 8,FIG. 8 shows a base frame setting range frame 43. The base frame settingrange frame 43 is a little smaller than the pickup image 40. The controlportion 20 judges whether at least a part of the base frame 41 crossesthe base frame setting range frame 43 in Step 205. Then, when judgingthat at least a part of the base frame 41 crosses the base frame settingrange frame 43, the control portion 20 contracts the base frame 41 sothat it does not cross the base frame setting range frame 43.

By thus setting the base frame 41 within the base frame setting rangeframe 43, it is possible to prevent the light spot search frame 42 fromsticking out from the pickup image 40.

Next, the control portion 20 determines the size of the light spotsearch frame 42 and sets the light spot search frame 42 around the baseframe 41 (Step 206). The size of the light spot search frame 42 isdetermined by enlarging the base frame 41 by a predetermined scalefactor, and the light spot search frame 42 is a frame that is a littlelarger than the base frame 41. By thus setting the light spot searchframe 42 to be larger than the base frame 41, it is possible to preventa state where the light spot 4 cannot be searched for at a time the userpoints an end of the screen 3 of the display portion 11 with the remotecontroller 30.

By setting the light spot search frame 42 inside the pickup image 40 andjudging the movement of the light spot 4 or the like in the light spotsearch frame 42, an influence of ambient light can be eliminated.

FIG. 9 are diagrams showing the movement of the light spot 4 in thepickup image 40 at a time the remote controller 30 is swung laterallywhile the user is pressing the button 32 of the remote controller 30 andlight is being emitted from the light-emitting portion 37. FIG. 9A showsthe movement of the light spot 4 at a time the user who is far from thePC 10 swings the remote controller 30, whereas FIG. 9B shows themovement of the light spot 4 at a time the user swings the remotecontroller 30 near the PC 10. It should be noted that in FIGS. 9A and9B, the user is moving the remote controller 30 the same distancelaterally in space.

Comparing FIGS. 9A and 9B, a ratio of a movement distance d1 of thelight spot 4 with respect to the pickup image 40 and a ratio of amovement distance d2 of the light spot 4 with respect to the pickupimage 40 differ. In FIGS. 9A and 9B, however, a ratio of the movementdistance d1 of the light spot 4 with respect to the base frame 41 and aratio of the movement distance d2 of the light spot 4 with respect tothe base frame 41 are the same. Since the movement distance of thepointer 1 with respect to the screen 3 of the display portion 11 isdetermined based on the movement distance of the light spot 4 withrespect to the base frame 41, the pointer 1 is moved the same distanceon the screen 3 in FIGS. 9A and 9B.

Specifically, in this embodiment, it is possible to suppress themovement distance of the pointer 1 on the screen 3 varying depending onthe distance between the remote controller 30 and the PC 10 (operationdistance correction).

Processing when moving pointer 1 and processing of click etc.

Next, processing carried out when the pointer 1 is moved and processingof a click and the like will be described.

FIGS. 10 to 13 are flowcharts showing the processing of the PC 10 atthis time.

Referring to FIG. 10, the control portion 20 of the PC 10 judges whetherinfrared rays emitted from the light-emitting portion 37 of the remotecontroller 30 have been received (Step 301). In this case, the controlportion 20 judges whether the infrared rays have been received byjudging whether the light spot 4 of the infrared rays is included in thelight spot search frame 42 in the pickup image 40 picked up by the imagepickup portion 13.

When the user is pressing the button 32 while holding the remotecontroller 30 and aiming it at the PC 10, infrared rays are emitted fromthe light-emitting portion 37 to be received (YES in Step 301). When theinfrared rays are received, the control portion 20 obtains a centerposition of the light spot 4 and calculates a movement amount of thelight spot 4 with respect to the base frame 41 in the pickup image 40(Step 303).

Next, the control portion 20 judges whether the light spot 4 has moved(Step 304). When judging that the light spot 4 has not moved (NO in Step304), the control portion 20 displays the pointer 1 at the same positionon the screen 3 as the last time (Step 305).

On the other hand, when judging that the light spot 4 has moved (YES inStep 304), the processing advances to Step 401 as the next step.

Referring to FIG. 11, the control portion 20 judges whether the currentmode is a drag processing mode in Step 401.

When judging that the current mode is the drag processing mode (YES inStep 401), the control portion 20 advances to Step 501 (see FIG. 12). Onthe other hand, when judging that the current mode is not the dragprocessing mode (NO in Step 401), the control portion 20 judges whetherthe movement of the light spot 4 within a certain time is small (Step402).

When judging that the movement of the light spot 4 within the certaintime is small (YES in Step 402), the control portion 20 shifts the modeto the drag processing mode (Step 406) and advances to Step 501.

On the other hand, when judging that the light spot 4 has moved apredetermined movement amount or more within the certain time (NO inStep 402), the control portion 20 judges whether the light spot 4 hasmoved largely in the vertical or lateral direction in the light spotsearch frame 42 of the pickup image 40 (Step 403).

When the light spot 4 has moved largely in the vertical or lateraldirection (YES in Step 403), the control portion 20 shifts the mode to ascroll processing mode (Step 407) and advances to Step 501.

On the other hand, when judged negative in Step 403 (NO in Step 403),the control portion 20 judges whether the light spot 4 has moved largelyto the right and stopped in the light spot search frame 42 (Step 404).When the light spot 4 has moved largely to the right and stopped (YES inStep 404), the control portion 20 shifts the mode to a right-clickprocessing mode (Step 408) and advances to Step 501.

When judged negative in Step 404 (NO in Step 404), the control portion20 next judges whether the light spot 4 has moved largely to the leftand stopped in the light spot search frame 42 (Step 405). When judgingthat the light spot 4 has moved largely to the left and stopped (YES inStep 405), the control portion 20 shifts the mode to a left-clickprocessing mode (Step 409) and advances to Step 501.

On the other hand, when judged negative in Step 405 (NO in Step 405),the drag processing mode, the scroll processing mode, and the clickprocessing mode (right-click processing mode and left-click processingmode) are not switched, and the control portion 20 advances to Step 501while maintaining the last processing mode.

Referring to FIG. 12, the control portion 20 judges whether the currentmode is the drag processing mode in Step 501. When the current mode isthe drag processing mode (YES in Step 501), the control portion 20executes drag processing and processing for moving the pointer 1 on thescreen 3 (Step 504). As a result, the user can drag the icon 2, awindow, a webpage, and the like displayed on the screen 3 of the displayportion 11, for example.

Here, during the drag, a movement distance of the pointer 1 and a dragtarget that is being dragged is a distance calculated based on themovement amount of the light spot 4 with respect to the base frame 41 inthe pickup image 40 (see FIG. 9). Therefore, in both cases where theuser operates the remote controller 30 3-dimensionally far from the PC10 and the user operates the remote controller 30 3-dimensionally nearthe PC 10, the pointer 1 and the drag target can be moved the same wayon the screen 3. It should be noted that the same holds true for scrollprocessing to be described later and the processing for moving thepointer 1.

When judging that the current mode is not the drag processing mode inStep 501 (NO in Step 501), the control portion 20 judges whether thecurrent mode is the scroll processing mode (Step 502).

When the current mode is the scroll processing mode (YES in Step 502),the control portion 20 executes the scroll processing on the screen 3.As a result, the user can scroll a window displayed on the screen 3 ofthe display portion 11 or an image displayed in a webpage, for example.

When judging that the current mode is not the scroll processing mode inStep 502 (NO in Step 502), the control portion 20 moves the pointer 1 onthe screen 3 in accordance with the movement amount of the light spot 4with respect to the base frame 41 in the pickup image 40 (Step 503).

Referring back to FIG. 10, when judging that the infrared rays from thelight-emitting portion 37 of the remote controller 30 have not beenreceived in Step 301 (NO in Step 301), the control portion 20 judgeswhether the infrared rays from the light-emitting portion 37 have beenreceived again within a predetermined time (Step 302). The predeterminedtime is set as appropriate in consideration of a flickering cycle of thelight-emitting portion 37.

Based on the judgment of Step 302, the control portion 20 candistinguishably recognize the turn-off of the light of the light spot 4based on the flickering of the light-emitting portion 37 and theturn-off of the light of the light spot 4 based on a release of a pressof the button 32.

When the infrared rays from the light-emitting portion 37 have beenreceived again within the predetermined time (YES in Step 302), thecontrol portion 20 advances to Step 303 as in the case where it isjudged that the infrared rays have been received in Step 301, andexecutes the processing of Step 303 and the subsequent steps describedabove.

On the other hand, when the infrared rays from the light-emittingportion 37 have not been received again within the predetermined time(NO in Step 302), the control portion 20 advances to Step 306 as thenext step. In Step 306, the control portion 20 judges whether the clickprocessing has already been carried out. When the click processing hasalready been carried out (YES in Step 306), the control portion 20 endsthe processing as it is. On the other hand, when the click processinghas not been carried out yet (NO in Step 306), the control portion 20advances to Step 601 as the next step.

Referring to FIG. 13, in Step 601, the control portion 20 judges whetherthe current mode is the right-click processing mode. When the currentmode is the right-click processing mode (YES in Step 601), the controlportion 20 executes the right-click processing. In this case, thecontrol portion 20 executes display processing of a relevant menu or thelike at the position of the pointer 1 at that time, for example.

On the other hand, when the current mode is not the right-clickprocessing mode (NO in Step 601), the control portion 20 judges whetherthe current mode is the left-click processing mode (Step 602). When thecurrent mode is the left-click processing mode (YES in Step 602), thecontrol portion 20 executes the left-click processing (Step 605). Inthis case, when the position of the pointer 1 at that time is on theicon 2, for example, the control portion 20 carries out processing ofselecting and executing that icon 2.

On the other hand, when the current mode is not the left-clickprocessing mode (NO in Step 602), the control portion 20 judges whetherthe current mode is the drag processing mode (Step 603). When thecurrent mode is the drag processing mode (YES in Step 603), the controlportion 20 executes drop processing (Step 606).

By the processing shown in FIGS. 10 to 13, the user can easily move thepointer 1 on the screen 3 by operating the remote controller 303-dimensionally while pressing the button 32. Moreover, the user caneasily perform operations of a right-click and a left-click by cancelingthe press of the button 32 of the remote controller 30 (click processingmode) (see Steps 604 and 605).

Further, the user can easily switch the right-click processing mode inwhich a right-click is executed at a time the press of the button 32 isreleased and the left-click processing mode in which a left-click isexecuted at a time the press of the button 32 is released by operatingthe remote controller 30 3-dimensionally (see Steps 404 and 405).

When switching the left-click processing mode to the right-clickprocessing mode, the user only needs to swiftly move the remotecontroller 30 to the right and stop while pressing the button 32 (seeStep 404). On the other hand, when switching the right-click processingmode to the left-click processing mode, the user only needs to swiftlymove the remote controller 30 to the left and stop while pressing thebutton 32 (see Step 405).

Furthermore, the user can drag a drag target by positioning the pointer1 on the drag target such as the icon 2, a window, and a webpage on thescreen 3 for a certain time (see Step 402). Then, by operating theremote controller 30 3-dimensionally while pressing the button 32 andreleasing the press of the button 32 after moving the drag target to atarget position, the user can drop the drag target (see Steps 504 and606).

Moreover, by swiftly moving the remote controller 30 in the vertical orlateral direction after positioning the pointer 1 on a scroll targetsuch as a window and a webpage, the user can scroll the scroll target(see Steps 403 and 505).

In addition, since the remote controller 30 of this embodiment takes aform in which the light-emitting portion 37 flickers at a predeterminedcycle, power of the remote controller 30 can be saved.

On the other hand, the control portion 20 of the PC 10 is capable ofrecognizing which of the turn-off of the light based on the flickeringof the light-emitting portion 37 and the turn-off of the light based onthe release of the press of the button 32 the turn-off of the light ofthe light spot 4 is (see Step 302). Then, when the turn-off of the lightis based on the flickering, the control portion 20 does not execute theright-click, left-click, and drag processing (see YES of Step 302). As aresult, it is possible to prevent false operations from being executedby the right-click, left-click, and drag processing being executed dueto the cyclical flickering of the remote controller 30.

Furthermore, in the PC 10 of this embodiment, the processing for movingthe pointer 1 and the click (right-click and left-click), drag-and-drop,and scroll processing are realized based on the movement of a singlelight spot 4 in the pickup image 40 and turn-off of the light of thelight spot 4. As a result, the remote controller 30 that is generallyused as a remote controller 30 for a display-portion-integrated PC 10and a television apparatus can be made to function as a pointing devicewith which the pointer 1 can be moved and operations such as a click canbe made. Accordingly, since there is no need to use a special remotecontroller 30, costs can be cut.

Moreover, since the judgment on the turn-off of the light of the lightspot 4 is executed with respect to the turn-off of the light within thelight spot search frame 42 (see Step 301), the right-click, left-click,and drop processing are not executed when the light of the light spot 4is turned off outside the light spot search frame 42. As a result, falseoperations as in a case where a click or the like is executed when thepress of the button 32 is released while the user is pointing theposition outside the screen 3 with the remote controller 30 areprevented from occurring.

Modified Example of First Embodiment

In the above descriptions, the mode has shifted to the drag processingmode when the movement of the light spot 4 within a certain time issmall, and the mode has shifted to the scroll processing mode when thelight spot 4 largely moves vertically and laterally. Further, the modehas shifted to the right-click processing mode when the light spot 4largely moves to the right and stops, and the mode has shifted to theleft-click processing mode when the light spot 4 largely moves to theleft and stops. However, the conditions for the shifts to the processingmodes described above are not limited thereto.

Typically, the conditions for the shifts to the processing modesdescried above may be allocated to any movements of the light spot 4that are not normally used when the user operates the remote controller30 3-dimensionally to move the pointer 1.

Although the above descriptions have been given on the case where thecondition for switching the right-click processing mode to theleft-click processing mode and the condition for switching theleft-click processing mode to the right-click processing mode differ,the conditions may be the same.

Moreover, although the above descriptions have been given on asingle-click, a double-click may be executed (both right- and left-handsides). For example, left double-click processing may be executed whenthe pointer 1 is positioned on an icon 2 on a desktop.

Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment will be described.

It should be noted that in the descriptions on the second embodiment andthe subsequent embodiments, parts having the same structures andfunctions as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the samereference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be simplified oromitted.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing of the PC 10 of the pointingsystem 100 according to the second embodiment.

The control portion 20 of the PC 10 judges whether infrared rays emittedfrom the light-emitting portion 37 of the remote controller 30 have beenreceived (Step 701). In this case, the control portion 20 judges whetherthe infrared rays have been received by judging whether the light spot 4of the infrared rays is within the light spot search frame 42 of thepickup image 40 picked up by the image pickup portion 13.

When the user presses the button 32 while holding the remote controller30 and aiming it at the PC 10, infrared rays are emitted from thelight-emitting portion 37 to be received (YES in Step 701). When theinfrared rays are received, the control portion 20 calculates a movementamount of the light spot 4 with respect to the base frame 41 of thepickup image 40 (Step 702).

Next, the control portion 20 judges whether the calculated movementamount of the light spot 4 is smaller than a predetermined thresholdvalue (Step 703). The threshold value is set as appropriate inconsideration of a level of a hand movement of the user.

When the movement amount of the light spot 4 is smaller than thepredetermined threshold value (YES in Step 703), the control portion 20reduces a movement rate of the pointer 1 on the screen 3 with respect tothe movement amount of the light spot 4 (Step 704) (small mode (firstmode)).

On the other hand, when the movement amount of the light spot 4 is equalto or larger than the predetermined threshold value (NO in Step 703),the control portion 20 increases the movement rate of the pointer 1 onthe screen 3 with respect to the movement amount of the light spot 4(Step 705) (big mode (second mode)).

By carrying out the processing as described above, the movement of thepointer 1 on the screen 3 becomes markedly small when the 3-dimensionalmovement of the remote controller 30 is small. As a result, it becomespossible to suppress wobbling of the pointer 1 on the screen 3 due to aninfluence of a hand movement. Moreover, the user can precisely controlthe pointer 1 on the screen 3.

On the other hand, when the 3-dimensional movement of the remotecontroller 30 is large, the movement of the pointer 1 on the screen 3becomes markedly large. As a result, when wishing to largely move thepointer 1, the user can efficiently move the pointer 1 by largely movingthe remote controller 30 3-dimensionally.

In the example shown in FIG. 14, the modes have been the big mode andthe small mode. However, the modes may be 3 steps or more.

The threshold value may be subjected to processing so that it varies inthe small mode and the big mode. In this case, the threshold value maybe subjected to processing so that it becomes large in the small modeand becomes small in the big mode. As a result, stable operations becomepossible among the modes.

Alternatively, the control portion 20 may cancel the processing relatedto a click (left- and right-single click, left- and right-double-click)when the light of the light spot 4 is turned off inside the pickup image40 (light spot search frame 42) in the big mode. Normally, the useroften does not largely move the remote controller 30 3-dimensionallywhen performing an operation related to a click. In other words, whenthe light of the light spot 4 is turned off inside the pickup image 40in the big mode, it is often a false operation. In this regard, when thelight of the light spot 4 is turned off inside the pickup image 40(light spot search frame 42) in the big mode, the control portion 20 maycancel the processing related to a click. As a result, false operationsare prevented from being made.

Modified Examples

In the descriptions on the above embodiments, thedisplay-portion-integrated PC 10 in which the display portion 11 and thePC 10 are integrated has been described as an example of the controldevice. However, the control device is not limited thereto. For example,the display portion 11 and the PC 10 may be independent devices.Moreover, the image pickup portion 13 may also be provided independentfrom the display portion 11 and the PC 10. Other examples of the controldevice include a television apparatus and a car navigation apparatus.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope and without diminishing itsintended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes andmodifications be covered by the appended claims.

The application is claimed as follows:
 1. A pointing system, comprising:a pointing device including an operation portion, and a light-emittingportion that emits light in accordance with an operation to theoperation portion; and a control device including an image pickupportion that picks up light from the light-emitting portion at a timethe light-emitting portion emits light and outputs an image includinginformation on a light spot of the light, a display portion thatincludes a screen and displays a pointer on the screen, and a controlportion that sets a base frame, the base frame is set in a sizecorresponding to a distance between the pointing device and the displayportion, wherein the control portion that judges, as well as judges amovement of the light spot based on the information on the light spot inthe image and moves the pointer on the screen based on the movement ofthe light spot, whether the light of the light spot is turned off basedon the information on the light spot in the image and executesprocessing related to a click at a time the light of the light spot isturned off, wherein the control portion is configured to judge whetherthe movement of the light spot is smaller or larger than a predeterminedmovement amount within a certain time and switch a processing mode basedon the movement and turn-off of the light spot to move the pointer onthe screen, wherein the light spot is located within the base frame andthe light spot is configured to move with respect to the base frame,wherein the control portion is configured to set a light spot searchframe, the light spot search frame is moveable along with the base frameand always surrounds the base frame, and wherein the light spot searchframe is larger than the base frame and the light spot search frame issmaller than the image pickup portion.
 2. The pointing system accordingto claim 1, wherein the control portion judges whether the movement ofthe light spot satisfies a predetermined condition and switches, whenthe movement of the light spot satisfies the predetermined condition,between a left-click processing mode in which processing related to aleft-click is executed at the time the light of the light spot is turnedoff and a right-click processing mode in which processing related to aright-click is executed at the time the light of the light spot isturned off.
 3. The pointing system according to claim 1, wherein thecontrol portion judges whether the movement of the light spot satisfiesa predetermined condition and switches, when the movement of the lightspot satisfies the predetermined condition, a click processing mode inwhich the pointer is moved in accordance with the movement of the lightspot and the processing related to a click is executed at the time thelight of the light spot is turned off to a drag processing mode in whichdrag is executed in accordance with the movement of the light spot anddrop is executed at the time the light of the light spot is turned off.4. The pointing system according to claim 1, wherein the control portionjudges whether the movement of the light spot satisfies a predeterminedcondition and switches, when the movement of the light spot satisfiesthe predetermined condition, a click processing mode in which thepointer is moved in accordance with the movement of the light spot andthe processing related to a click is executed at the time the light ofthe light spot is turned off to a scroll processing mode in which scrollis executed in accordance with the movement of the light spot.
 5. Thepointing system according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting portionoutputs periodical emission of the light when the operation portion isoperated, wherein the control portion is configured to judge whetherturn-off of the light from the light-emitting portion is due to theperiodical emission or is due to a cancellation of the operation to theoperation portion, and wherein the control portion does not execute aclick related processing when the turn-off of the light from thelight-emitting portion is due to the periodical emission, and thecontrol portion executes the click related processing when the turn-offof the light from the light-emitting portion is due to the cancellationof the operation to the operation portion.
 6. The pointing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the control portion judges a size of thelight spot in the image, the size of the base frame corresponding to thesize of the light spot, and moves the pointer on the screen inaccordance with the movement of the light spot in the base frame.
 7. Thepointing system according to claim 6, wherein the control portion sets alight spot search frame around the base frame in the image and judgesthe movement of the light spot and the turn-off of the light of thelight spot in the light spot search frame.
 8. The pointing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the base frame is always inside of thelight spot search frame.
 9. The pointing system according to claim 1,wherein the control portion is configured to set a base frame settingrange frame and the base frame is within the base frame setting rangeframe.
 10. The pointing system according to claim 1, wherein a ratio ofa first movement distance of the pointer on the screen with respect tothe base frame at a first distance between the pointing device and thedisplay portion is always same as a ratio of a second movement distanceof the pointer on the screen with respect to the base frame at a seconddistance between the pointing device and the display portion.
 11. Thepointing system according to claim 10, wherein the first distance andthe second distance are different.
 12. The pointing system according toclaim 1, wherein the light-emitting portion is configured to outputperiodical emission of the light, and wherein the control portion doesnot execute a click related processing during the periodical emission ofthe light.
 13. The pointing system according to claim 1, wherein thecontrol portion is configured to calculate a movement amount of thelight spot with respect to the base frame and when the movement amountof the light is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, thecontrol portion reduces a movement rate of the pointer.
 14. The pointingsystem according to claim 1, wherein the control portion is configuredto calculate a movement amount of the light spot with respect to thebase frame and when the movement amount of the light is equal to orlarger than a predetermined threshold value, the control portionincreases a movement rate of the pointer.
 15. A control device pickingup light from a light-emitting portion of a pointing device including anoperation portion and the light-emitting portion that emits light inaccordance with an operation to the operation portion and moves apointer on a screen based on information on a light spot of the lightincluded in the pickup image, the control device comprising: an imagepickup portion configured to pick up light from the light-emittingportion at a time the light-emitting portion emits light and output theimage including information on the light spot; a display portionincluding the screen and configured to display the pointer on thescreen; and a control portion that sets a base frame, the base frame isset in a size corresponding to a distance between the pointing deviceand the display portion, wherein the control portion configured tojudge, as well as judge a movement of the light spot based on theinformation on the light spot in the image and move the pointer on thescreen based on the movement of the light spot, whether the light of thelight spot is turned off based on the information on the light spot inthe image and execute processing related to a click at a time the lightof the light spot is turned off, wherein the control portion isconfigured to judge whether the movement of the light spot is smaller orlarger than a predetermined movement amount within a certain time andswitch a processing mode based on the movement and turn-off of the lightspot to move the pointer on the screen, wherein the light spot islocated within the base frame and the light spot is configured to movewith respect to the base frame, wherein the control portion isconfigured to set a light spot search frame, the light spot search frameis moveable along with the base frame and always surrounds the baseframe, and wherein the light spot search frame is larger than the baseframe and the light spot search frame is smaller than the image pickupportion.
 16. The control device according to claim 15, wherein thelight-emitting portion outputs periodical emission of the light when theoperation portion is operated, wherein the control portion is configuredto judge whether turn-off of the light from the light-emitting portionis due to the periodical emission or is due to a cancellation of theoperation to the operation portion, and wherein the control portion doesnot execute a click related processing when the turn-off of the lightfrom the light-emitting portion is due to the periodical emission, andthe control portion executes the click related processing when theturn-off of the light from the light-emitting portion is due to thecancellation of the operation to the operation portion.
 17. A controlmethod in a pointing system having a control device including a controlportion, comprising: picking up light from a light-emitting portion thatemits light in accordance with an operation to an operation portion;outputting an image including information on a light spot of the light;setting a base frame in the image, the base frame is set in a sizecorresponding to a distance between a pointing device and a displayportion, judging a movement of the light spot based on the informationon the light spot in the image, wherein the control portion isconfigured to judge whether the movement of the light spot is smaller orlarger than a predetermined movement amount within a certain time;moving a pointer on a screen of the display portion in accordance withthe movement of the light spot; judging turn-off of the light of thelight spot based on the information on the light spot in the image;switching a processing mode based on the movement and turn-off of thelight spot to move the pointer on the screen; and executing processingrelated to a click at a time the light of the light spot is turned off,wherein the light spot is located within the base frame and the lightspot is configured to move with respect to the base frame, wherein thecontrol portion is configured to set a light spot search frame, thelight spot search frame is moveable along with the base frame and alwayssurrounds the base frame, and wherein the light spot search frame islarger than the base frame and the light spot search frame is smallerthan the image pickup portion.
 18. The control method according to claim17, wherein the light-emitting portion outputs periodical emission ofthe light when the operation portion is operated, wherein the controlportion is configured to judge whether turn-off of the light from thelight-emitting portion is due to the periodical emission or is due to acancellation of the operation to the operation portion, and wherein thecontrol portion does not execute a click related processing when theturn-off of the light from the light-emitting portion is due to theperiodical emission, and the control portion executes the click relatedprocessing when the turn-off of the light from the light-emittingportion is due to the cancellation of the operation to the operationportion.